love this shot by Kevin Archie

So much to love.

Still my commitment to Instagram goes deeper. This free little download has changed everything about the way I look at the world around me. Partly because it’s just fun to keep an eye out for an interesting something that might make a swell photo. But also because I am wildly inspired by the images that are delivered to me, right there in my Instagram feed. There is something fascinating about seeing ordinary, daily life transformed into magical crops, viewed through someone else’s life lens.

For example:

from Riggs Partners Design Director Ryon Edwards

from my friend, Karen Dukes

from my daughter, Eliza Ellis

What a gift it is to see the world differently; to be more aware simply because you are looking. 

Today is a great day to look around. Look for light and shapes and texture and color. Snap a shot or two and see if your view of the world doesn’t open up just a bit.

Beauty is all around us, every moment.

Just look.

I am happy they love it, too.

We gathered in a meeting room on the 41st floor of the Morgan Stanley building in Manhattan. Around us were a hundred representatives of Fortune 100 companies, collected here to fuel the momentum of a powerful service initiative called A Billion+Change.

Senator Mark Warner stepped to the podium.

We face some real challenges in this country, he said. 

The government can’t fix these problems.

Nonprofits can, if we help them build capacity.

Nonprofits are there, on the ground, in the right position to do it, he said.*

It was the opening to one of the most fascinating days of my career, spent in the company of corporate giants and nonprofit leaders with the desire (and position) to go about the business of changing the world. We spent the day talking about the ways these corporations—early pioneers in skills-based pro bono services—are creating global CSR programs, providing opportunities for employees to be engaged in them, developing systems for managing them, identifying meaningful ways to measure them, and more.

At the heart of it all is A Billion + Change, a movement that has already engaged nearly 100 companies with pledges that total $1.5 billion in skills-based pro bono service. It marks a sea change, really: corporations leveraging the talents of employees throughout an organization in service to nonprofits. And it’s not just hands-on service. It’s volunteer service based on the professional skills of the individual. By matching the workforce skills with the needs of these nonprofits, powerful connections are made.

Think what happens when UPS employees volunteer their expertise to improve the logistical challenge of getting supplies to a region ravaged by an earthquake. Or  HP—the world’s largest technology company— collaborates with a national educator’s resource center to improve digital communication and distribution of materials.

It’s a new way of thinking about corporate pro bono service that not only values but also encourages coordinated participation in socially responsible efforts, all on “company” time.

Riggs Partners is proud to be standing there alongside Starbucks, Target, Microsoft, Walmart, Kraft, Capital One, Deloitte, Dow Chemical, GE, IBM, Intel, PepsiCo, and more, as a founding pledge company in the A Billion+Change movement. In fact, our CreateAthon pro bono program, through which we develop branding and marketing materials for nonprofits during a 24-hour marathon, was showcased at the Billion + launch event in Washington, DC early this winter. With a collective impact of nearly $15 million in our 15th CreateAThon year, we believe our program is a powerful example of the most effective kind of Corporate Social Responsibility program:

• Aligned with the company’s brand;
• Leverages the prized commodity of the talents and skills of its employees;
• Boosts morale;
• Makes a difference to those nonprofits being served.

In a post titled The Best Job In America, Jenny Lawson, executive director of A Billion + Change, writes, “Together, we are seeking to make A Billion + Change the biggest pledge of corporate service in history.”

I think it will happen. I believe the A Billion + Change movement will catch fire as companies—large and small—realize the profound impact that comes from stepping up, making a commitment to service, and working together to do what needs to be done.

It has certainly changed our company for the better.

Cathy and Teresa represent Riggs Partners among pledge companies, the leadership team and Senator Mark Warner

Room With A View

Teresa talks small business pledge strategies with Jackie Norris, executive director of Points of Light Corporate Institute

Breakout session

Riggs Partners to the left; HP to the right

*The sentiments, if not the exact words, expressed by Senator Mark Warner, honorary chair of the A Billion+ Movement. I hasten to add that while I may be a bit biased—I am a native Virginian, after all—I found Senator Warner to be both refreshingly candid and delightfully charming.

**A special thanks to the leaders of the A Billion + Change movement:  Honorary Chairman Senator Mark Warner, Points of Light, the Case Foundation, Deloitte, HP, IBM and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

***Photos graciously provided by A Billion + Change

The partnership between an ad agency and a printing company is a significant one. The Riggs/Crowson relationship is built on a foundation of deep trust and mutual respect; in all these years, neither has ever had to look over the other’s shoulder to inspect for quality, ethics, intention. Never.

In 1998, our company founded a little pro bono initiative called CreateAthon. In one phone call, Crowson quickly agreed to become a part of our “printers confederacy,” providing free printing for a number of CreateAthon nonprofits. In 2001, they stepped up with an offer to print it all.

Since then, Crowson Stone has provided free printing for more than 75 CreateAthon clients, with a market value that surely tops the $1,000,000 mark. (We don’t know the exact amount since Crowson doesn’t keep score.) And that number doesn’t take into account the countless projects they produce outside the scope of CreateAthon, either pro bono or at a nonprofit rate. It doesn’t take much of a leap of faith to suggest Crowson is among the most philanthropic companies in their industry. Certainly they are in South Carolina.

The past few years have not been easy for those in the printing business, and Crowson Stone is no exception. In spite of visionary leadership and significant (early) investment in digital, challenge after challenge piled at their door. Still they remained committed to their customers, refusing to compromise on quality, integrity, ethics. Under the leadership of John deLoach, a man among men, they continued to serve their clients with honor.

Like so many who love Crowson Stone, I was beyond happy to learn INDEXX Printing from Greenville, South Carolina, is stepping in with support. I believe this is a good business move for INDEXX, yes. But I also believe  that when they looked at Crowson, INDEXX saw a company with a soul worthy of saving.

Thank you, Crowson Stone, for all you have meant to me, to Riggs Partners, to the Midlands of South Carolina, and to the nonprofits you have served. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude.

And we extend a warm welcome to INDEXX Printing. You have not only demonstrated great business acumen in your partnership with Crowson Stone, you have already served this community well.

the early days at 819 Main Street

Our friend Dick Terry (with Catherine Traywick). For many years, he was the face of Crowson Stone to Riggs.

Hot Off the Press CreateAthon Party at Crowson Stone

Still doing good: John deLoach (l) and John Stiles (r) of CS; Dean Schuster (aka the deanguin) of truematter

Isn’t that just the effect a really great brand has on you? I can see Paula as part of my life, a celebrity friendship as casual and easy as any meaningful relationship in my life.

So I was heartbroken to watch her appearance on The Today Show last week when she announced the Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis. Not so much because of the disease—I believe she will successfully manage it—but because the entire handling of the announcement was such a debacle.

How I wish I had been Paula Deen’s brand consultant when she learned of the diagnosis three years ago. (Of course, the report that her longtime publicist resigned last month after Paula began hawking a diabetes drug indicates the Food Network star didn’t follow the counsel she received anyway.) But I would have made a powerful pitch to her—one she may never have thought about or considered—and that perspective, I believe, could have changed every misstep that followed.

At issue is the protection of a multi-million dollar brand built around the very culprit in this significant and dangerous health diagnosis: rich, fatty, unhealthful Southern recipes. Paula and her team created an empire promoting comfort food, beginning with The Lady and Sons Savannah, Georgia restaurant, then expanding in every direction—publishing of cookbooks and magazines, multiple television shows, an extensive line of signature cookware, online and retail interests. A heavy consideration in the what do we do about this diagnosis discussion, no doubt, was Dean’s endless array of ”strategic partnerships” with other national brands, including Walmart, Smithfield, Harrah’s, International Greeting and Cooking.com, to name just a few.

Here, apparently, was the Protect the Brand strategy:

1. Wait three years to publicly announce that she has Type 2 Diabetes, all the while continuing to expand—rather than refining—her brand
2. Form another strategic partnership, but with a drug company rather than a highly respected, mission-driven nonprofit
3. Make the diabetes announcement during a live segment on The Today Show, an appearance in which she was (uncharacteristically) nervous and disingenuous

How did a brilliant business woman capable of such extensive brand expansion come to make so many poor crisis communications decisions? Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t believe greed is the heart of the issue. (Pollyanna, I know. But I don’t.)

I believe the problem is having a brand strategy based on this flawed core premise:

Brand Paula Deen = Southern Cooking

Wrong. So wrong. This powerful brand is based on one thing that should have been protected at all cost, but wasn’t:

Brand Paula Deen = the authenticity of Paula Deen, herself

I can’t think of another celebrity more utterly charming and disarming in her honesty. Likely to say anything at any time, she lights up stage and screen by saying exactly what she’s thinking—and what we are thinking, too, but are too timid to say.

How powerful it could have been had she announced the diagnosis early, long before she had “something to bring to the table.” What if, three years ago, she’d said:

I didn’t expect this. I don’t know enough. I am afraid.

What if she’d invited us all to take this very human journey with her, changing our lifestyles and habits and menus, one day at a time, together.

Would her brand have disintegrated? Would the Food Network have dropped her? Would corporate partners have abandoned her?

Would we?

I surely don’t think so.

Paula Deen, the person, will survive this misstep, I do believe. But the brand has suffered a severe blow. And the best thing it can do (I sure hope it moves quickly) is to get real about what Paula Dean, the brand, stands for. I, for one, think there is way more there than just another stick of butter.

I can’t use that box. I love that logo too much to just let that box go.

the coveted box

And then I had a little talk with myself about how ridiculous I was being. How completely over-the-top consumeristic to hold on to a BOX.

But it does speak to the power of a really great identity, doesn’t it?

from chair spindles to gorgeous tree ornaments

We couldn’t be happier about this one if we tried. Working with Goodwill Industries of the Upstate/Midlands SC is a dream assignment—powerful mission, great people, interesting projects.

A wonderful bonus of the work we’ve done for Goodwill is the friendships we’ve developed along the way. Good Life blogger Kendra Ardis, for instance.

We first met Kendra when she responded to our Craig’s List ad looking for The Perfect Person to help us develop and launch our first lifestyle blog, The Good Life. The blog centers around the definition of thrift we love the most, from Wikipedia:

the recycling of formerly-owned items, finding new use and new love for vintage material goods which had been thrown out, and the thrill of imagining what the former life of the item was like

A thrifter from way back, Kendra is the Perfect Person to write The Good Life.

wouldn't these look swell on your tree?

As a bonus, Kendra and The Good Life brought to us another artist who takes thrift to a new level, Barb Blair of Knack Studios. In a guest post on The Good Life, Barb transforms these old chair spindles into the most incredible Christmas Tree ornaments around. What’s more, she’s allowing The Good Life to give them away a set of 12 in a contest on the blog’s Facebook page as a way to bring more people who love the art of thrift to the blog.

(To enter to win these ornaments, just click on this link. Deadline is midnight tonight.

Maybe it’s just the traditional feeling of goodwill (pardon me) the holiday season brings, but we’re feeling grateful for so many things that came to Riggs Partners wrapped in the Year 2011—not the least of which is a wonderful new client and all the relationships therewith. We are truly grateful.

a fine start to a pretty Thanksgiving table

We love all of the above. So we are thrilled to share with you a wonderful post from our friends at Goodwill Industries of the Midlands/Upstate, on their lifestyle blog The Good Life.

Blogger Kendra Ardis has a wonderful way of bringing beauty and practicality to everything she does. Take look at her ideas for the perfect Thanksgiving table. We especially love the “thankful card” from Jones Design Company.

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy.